NMSU Dance Program Alumni Bios

Alumni Biographies
More Alumni Bios 1 : 2 : 3 : 4
Josette Arvizu Graduation: Dec 2004 After graduating with a BA in English and a minor in Dance, Josette began graduate school in the English department at New Mexico State University. She won an Alpha Chi National Research Fellowship and the NMSU Sutherland McManus scholarship for literary criticism in 2006 and 2007. She taught college composition and creative writing while working on a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Her first manuscript is a collection of poems entitled Swallows. She now lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.
Kirsten Avelar Kirsten Avelar Graduation: May 2006 Ms. Avelar holds a B.A. in Dance with Honors from New Mexico State University, where she later served as dance faculty and Director of the Pan American Dance Institute. She has been on faculty at the El Paso Community College, and Barbara Driscoll School of Ballet in El Paso, TX, and the Academia de Ballet Emmanuel in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She has danced professionally with the Milwaukee Ballet, Cor Ignis Contemporary Dance Company in Cd. Juárez, México, and as a guest performer with Sol y Arena Flamenco and Classical Spanish Dance Company in New Mexico. Ms. Avelar is currently working in New York City with Ballet Español de Gabriela Granados, Ballet Hispanico, and Sharron Miller?s Academy for the Performing Arts.
Amy Marie Barnhart Amy Marie Barnhart Graduation: Amy trained for 10 years at Cheryl?s School of Dance, studying ballet, jazz, modern and ballroom, while dabbling in hip hop and African dance. She student taught at Cheryl?s studio her senior year of high school and enjoyed working with children of all ages. Amy attended New Mexico State University in Las Cruces where she received her bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communications, with a minor in dance and physical education. For the four years she attended school in Las Cruces, Amy was a member of the NMSU Dance Ensemble, serving as an assistant director of the ensemble her junior year. She was featured as a soloist all four years, and trained under former NMSU dance program director Helen Myers, who has trained with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and The Twyla Tharp Dance Company, among others. Amy also trained under Debbie Knapp, current NMSU dance program director, who has danced professionally with the Bill Evans Dance Company, among others. Amy was chosen to attend the American College Dance Festival in Scottsdale, AZ her senior year, and taught ballet at the NMSU Summer Dance Workshop to children ages 6 to 17 later that year. After graduating with her bachelor?s degree, Amy pursued a master?s degree in mass communications at Texas Tech University. After graduation, she moved to Chicago, IL, where she continued to take modern and jazz classes at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, home of the prestigious Hubbard Street Dance Company. Amy took full advantage of her time in Chicago by attending numerous performances by both local and touring dance companies. Amy recently returned to Carlsbad and rejoined Cheryl?s School of Dance as a ballet instructor in September 2011. Her love of dance continues to grow and she is excited to share that passion with a new generation of dancers.
Laura Chastain Graduation: May 2006 Laura's current career is with meca therapies as a service coordinator and a development specialist in dance. She has recently taught ballet, tap, and hip hop/jazz at the Academy of Music & Dance, and is looking to return again this coming year. She still has a passion for working with children, and teaching the preschool age dance. As she keeps busy being a single mother, working full-time, and teaching dance when possible; she would love to further her education and work toward creating a large dance therapy program within her current career.
Dayna Drollinger Dayna Drollinger Graduation: Since graduating from NMSU in Horticulture and dance minor, I have been working as a sales representative for homeopathic nutracutical companies and privately facilitating individual and group healing through movement and improvising. I teach, choreograph and perform movement directed in healing the body through family constellation therapy. I live in Dallas, TX embracing my wonderful parents, sister, nieces and romantic male companion possibilities with my ever so loyal dog companion, Harmony.

Alumni Biographies

More Alumni Bios 1 : 2 : 3 : 4

Josette Arvizu

Graduation: Dec 2004

After graduating with a BA in English and a minor in Dance, Josette began graduate school in the English department at New Mexico State University. She won an Alpha Chi National Research Fellowship and the NMSU Sutherland McManus scholarship for literary criticism in 2006 and 2007. She taught college composition and creative writing while working on a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Her first manuscript is a collection of poems entitled Swallows. She now lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.

Kirsten Avelar

Graduation: May 2006

Ms. Avelar holds a B.A. in Dance with Honors from New Mexico State University, where she later served as dance faculty and Director of the Pan American Dance Institute. She has been on faculty at the El Paso Community College, and Barbara Driscoll School of Ballet in El Paso, TX, and the Academia de Ballet Emmanuel in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. She has danced professionally with the Milwaukee Ballet, Cor Ignis Contemporary Dance Company in Cd. Juárez, México, and as a guest performer with Sol y Arena Flamenco and Classical Spanish Dance Company in New Mexico.

Ms. Avelar is currently working in New York City with Ballet Español de Gabriela Granados, Ballet Hispanico, and Sharron Miller?s Academy for the Performing Arts.

Amy Marie Barnhart

Graduation:

Amy trained for 10 years at Cheryl?s School of Dance, studying ballet, jazz, modern and ballroom, while dabbling in hip hop and African dance. She student taught at Cheryl?s studio her senior year of high school and enjoyed working with children of all ages.

Amy attended New Mexico State University in Las Cruces where she received her bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communications, with a minor in dance and physical education. For the four years she attended school in Las Cruces, Amy was a member of the NMSU Dance Ensemble, serving as an assistant director of the ensemble her junior year. She was featured as a soloist all four years, and trained under former NMSU dance program director Helen Myers, who has trained with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and The Twyla Tharp Dance Company, among others. Amy also trained under Debbie Knapp, current NMSU dance program director, who has danced professionally with the Bill Evans Dance Company, among others. Amy was chosen to attend the American College Dance Festival in Scottsdale, AZ her senior year, and taught ballet at the NMSU Summer Dance Workshop to children ages 6 to 17 later that year.

After graduating with her bachelor?s degree, Amy pursued a master?s degree in mass communications at Texas Tech University. After graduation, she moved to Chicago, IL, where she continued to take modern and jazz classes at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, home of the prestigious Hubbard Street Dance Company. Amy took full advantage of her time in Chicago by attending numerous performances by both local and touring dance companies.

Amy recently returned to Carlsbad and rejoined Cheryl?s School of Dance as a ballet instructor in September 2011. Her love of dance continues to grow and she is excited to share that passion with a new generation of dancers.

Laura Chastain

Graduation: May 2006

Laura's current career is with meca therapies as a service coordinator and a development specialist in dance. She has recently taught ballet, tap, and hip hop/jazz at the Academy of Music & Dance, and is looking to return again this coming year. She still has a passion for working with children, and teaching the preschool age dance. As she keeps busy being a single mother, working full-time, and teaching dance when possible; she would love to further her education and work toward creating a large dance therapy program within her current career.

Dayna Drollinger

Graduation:

Since graduating from NMSU in Horticulture and dance minor, I have been working as a sales representative for homeopathic nutracutical companies and privately facilitating individual and group healing through movement and improvising. I teach, choreograph and perform movement directed in healing the body through family constellation therapy. I live in Dallas, TX embracing my wonderful parents, sister, nieces and romantic male companion possibilities with my ever so loyal dog companion, Harmony.